I didn't like the pirates.....

is probably the first thing Brendan will tell you if you ask him about Disneyland. But don't worry...there was plenty of stuff he DID like. We had quite the adventure that can only be described as a great bonding time for our little family. Through the stress and sleep deprivation from driving all night long to California we grew closer. Living in a small hotel room for 3 days was tough but we got through it and still had lots of fun. Its easy to avoid these stressful situations and just sit at home and do nothing...but what kind of memories will you make that way? I know that Carter is too small to remember this trip but I know Brendan will remember bits and I just love taking every moment with our kids that we can. Soon they'll be teenagers and we'll be begging to spend 5 minutes with them. LOL

So a quick summary of our trip. We left Sunday night at 8...the kids slept great but we were so tired it was really hard driving. The last couple hours was really crazy with Carter screaming and me trying to navigate LA traffic. But we made it to our hotel at about 2:30 in the afternoon on Monday. We got unpacked, let the kids play in the room for a bit, and then decided to take a walk to Downtown Disney for dinner. Downtown Disney is full of stores and restaurants at the entrance to Disneyland. They are open everyday and we were glad to have something to get us out of the hotel room. The walk was about 10-15 minutes which felt GREAT after sitting in the car for 17+ hours. We found a yummy restaurant that was too expensive (hard to find!) and looked in some of the stores. We decided to pick out the boys Mickey hats ahead of time so we wouldn't be dealing with crowds at Disneyland (a choice we were very happy about later). After looking around and enjoying the pretty fountains we decided to walk back and settle down for the night. The first night was really really rough. Brendan had to share a bed with one of us and he isn't used to that so it took awhile to get him to sleep and Carter was not happy about being in the pack n' play at all. No sooner had we gotten the boys to sleep and were drifting off to sleep ourselves....BOOM BOOM...fireworks! Fantastic! Luckily Brendan was out like a rock so they didn't wake him but they woke up Carter. After getting him back to sleep we were out!
The next morning we slept as long as the boys let us...8:45! Then we got ready and headed over to Riverside to visit my grandparents. My grandma made a delicious lunch and we had a great afternoon visiting and they just loved seeing the boys. I really wish we could see them more often. Love them so much! Before heading back to the hotel we grabbed some dinner at the grocery store and stocked up on some snacks for Disneyland. The second night was a little bit better, we were prepared for the fireworks so we didn't even try to get the kids in bed before they started.
Wednesday was the big day! We got up bright and early and headed over to Disneyland! 4 for the price of 1 was a great deal! We got the boys 1st time buttons and I got a special birthday button. Let the fun begin! The first ride we went on was Jungle Cruise and Brendan loved it! After that Charlie was sure that Brendan wouldn't mind Pirates of the Caribbean...well...he was wrong. We hope that we didn't permanently scar him for life with that ride. :) On to Fantasyland for some more kid appropriate fun. We went on Dumbo, Casey Jr. train, and Teacups....by this time Carter was pretty tired so luckily he fell asleep in his stroller on our walk to Toon Town. Brendan got to see Pluto and Goofy and Mickey too! He was having so much fun! We had lunch after Carter woke up and continued to explore Toon Town. Charlie took Brendan on the Go-Go Coaster but Brendan thought it was too fast. After climbing Chip and Dales Treehouse about 10 times and exploring Donalds Boat we got a snack and headed to Small World. This was the big hit of the day! The boys were pretty tired though so we headed back to the hotel for some down time..we got to see Chip and Dale, Donald, and Minnie on Main Street so that was good timing too. Both boys fell asleep on the walk home and luckily Carter stayed asleep for a little bit. After a couple hours we threw some dinner in the backpack for the boys and headed back for the rest of the evening. We enjoyed another ride on the Jungle Cruise, Winnie the Pooh (twice...short line), Small World two more times, and Finding Nemo Submarine before enjoying the fireworks at the end of the night. What a day!! Both boys were out like a light pretty quickly that night. We wore them out!
Thursday we checked out of our hotel and headed NW through Hollywood to visit my grandpa who is living with his stepdaughter Sharon and her husband Rodney. They have a beautiful home and were so gracious and hospitable. Sharon made a wonderful lunch and bought all sorts of toys and goodies for the boys. It was great to see my grandpa and I know that he really enjoyed seeing us too. At about 2:30 we got back on the road and headed home. The drive home was a lot better than the drive down. It was easier on us driving more during the day/evening hours and the boys actually didn't do too bad. We made it home at 7:30 am!! We were SO happy to be home! Loved the trip but loved coming home just as much!

Enjoy the slideshow!